by 
Nagpur/Reporter
The Maharashtra Union of Working Journalists, Nagpur Union of Working Journalists and Patrakar Club of Nagpur have unequivocally and strongly condemned the state government advisory and order to prohibit door to door delivery of newspapers and magazines.
The chief secretary of Maharashtra Ajoy Mehta on Saturday issued an order stating, "The print media is exempted from the lockdown from April 20. However, given the extent of the spread of COVID-19, the door to door delivery of newspaper and magazines is prohibited.”.
In a press statement, the President of MUWJ and Press Club Pradip Maitra, the President of NUWJ Shirish Borkar and NUWJ General Secretary and Press Club Secretary Bramhashankar Tripathi and the other office-bearers
said that the state government order amounted to a systematic attempt to kill the print media in these tough times.
People look for news and information that affects their lives and find newspapers as the most authentic source. It is nothing short of sounding a death knell for the enormously reliable source of information dissemination and news happenings, impacting everyone’s life.
This order tantamounts to gag on media freedom which will affect the entire print media industry and state’s illustrious, hard-working journalist fraternity that is relentlessly work in the field to share happenings with the readers even in life-threatening scenarios. The state government order against door to door delivery of newspapers and magazines is preposterous and apparently made without application of mind.
Amid rumours by some selfish-interests terming newspapers as potential Coronavirus carriers, the MUWJ, NUWJ and Press Club must clarify that newspapers are categorised as SAFE not just by the Government of India but even the World Health Organisation (WHO). Nevertheless, the government seems to be ignoring even the WHO findings and guidelines.
The unprecedented Corona pandemic and the consequent nationwide lockdown is bleeding the print media already. The state government’s above mentioned order will only aggravate the situation in an already beleaguered industry. Media personnel and newspapers are a necessity for the people and hence were kept in the list of essential items exempted in the lockdown. Any attempt to gag or paralyse the fourth pillar of democracy will only weaken the institution apart from loss of faith in the system and judiciousness of the authorities who apparently took the decision without any scientific attribution.
Freedom of the press is mandatory in any democratic society and crucial tenet for its effective functioning and governments are required to respect this at all times. Hence, the MUWJ, NUWJ and the Press Club demand that the government should withdraw the order immediately and ensure unhindered and smooth supply of newspapers and magazines to each and every household.
